Judith Rothchild: Black Magic

An exhibition of exquisite mezzotint prints by this notable American-born, France-based artist.

Black Magic includes approximately two dozen mezzotints with subject matters ranging from nature, still life and food, to travel, street scapes and objects drawn from everyday living.

A mezzotint print–from the Italian mezzo ("half") and tinta ("tone")–is known for the luxurious quality of its tones. The mezzotint process was first developed in the printmaking center of Amsterdam in the second quarter of the seventeenth century. In this type of intaglio (non-relief) print, subtle gradations of light and shade, rather than lines, form the image. Mezzotint prints have a remarkable capacity to convey texture, and are noted for their velvety black shades.

Judith Rothchild has been producing mezzotints and illustrated books since 1996. She studied drawing, painting and printmaking at the Boston University Tanglewood Summer program, Sarah Lawrence College, Rhode Island School of Design (BFA) and the Academie für Angewandte Kunst in Vienna. She has made hundreds of mezzotints as well as 26 artist books with her partner Mark Lintott under the name of Editions Verdigris. Judith’s work has been exhibited at more than thirty solo exhibitions throughout the United States and Europe, and is in numerous public collections, including: The Ashmoleon Museum, Oxford, England; The Musee Fabre, Montpellier, France; Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; The New York Public Library; and The Bibliotheque Nationale de France.

Judith regularly leads courses in mezzotint printmaking at the Maison de la Gravure at Castelnau, near Montpellier, and has presented internationally on the topic. In Febriary 2013, she led a weekend-long mezzotint printmaking workshop at the ICA's Print Center.